The Diamondbacks are bringing back manager Torey Lovullo for what’ll be his 10th season, as first reported by Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic. Lovullo was already under contract for one more year after signing an extension shortly after the team won the National League pennant in 2023.
While the Diamondbacks aren’t making a managerial change, it seems they’ll keep Lovullo in a lame duck setup. John Gambadoro of 98.7 FM reports that the 60-year-old Lovullo is not expected to sign an extension this offseason. Teams generally shy away from having managers and top front office personnel on expiring deals, but it seems leadership in Arizona is content with that arrangement heading into 2026.
The D-Backs have come up short of the playoffs in each of the two seasons following their league championship. Last year’s team won 89 games and finished on the outside on the final day of the season. They backed up to an 80-82 finish that placed fourth in the NL West this year. The Mets’ collapse helped keep the Diamondbacks mathematically alive into the final weekend, but they finished with their first losing season since 2022.
They’ve dramatically ramped up spending in each of the last two winters. They’ve focused most of their free agent activity on the rotation. None of the deals for Corbin Burnes, Eduardo Rodriguez or Jordan Montgomery have worked out. All three pitchers have been some combination of ineffective or injured. The Snakes signed each of Ketel Marte, Brandon Pfaadt, Geraldo Perdomo and Justin Martinez to extensions last winter.
With all that mind, owner Ken Kendrick told Gambadoro on Sunday that he’d “never been more disappointed in a season than this one because (their) expectations were so high.” Kendrick expanded on that comment during an appearance on the Burns & Gambo show this afternoon, saying it’s rooted largely in the injuries that wrecked the pitching staff. Losing Burnes to Tommy John surgery was the biggest blow, but the Snakes were also left with a patchwork bullpen for four-plus months by season-ending injuries to Martinez and A.J. Puk.
The Diamondbacks sold impending free agents Merrill Kelly, Eugenio Suárez, Josh Naylor, Shelby Miller and Randal Grichuk at the deadline. It’s to their credit that they didn’t phone in their last two months. The Snakes went 29-24 after the deadline. It ended in disappointing fashion with a five-game losing streak, but they improbably remained on the postseason periphery with a bullpen comprising mostly rookies or journeymen depth pickups.
Lovullo came under some fire in the middle of August when reports emerged that some players were frustrated with Marte for taking too many games off. The manager defended his star second baseman, who subsequently apologized for missing the first few games of the second half after returning to the Dominican Republic following the All-Star Break. Marte later said he was upset upon learning that his home in Arizona had been burglarized while he was attending the All-Star festivities. D-Backs’ ownership and the front office are evidently confident that Lovullo handled the situation well enough to not lose the clubhouse.
General manager Mike Hazen is also headed into his tenth season. Lovullo had worked with Hazen with the Red Sox and followed him to the desert not long after the GM’s hiring. The D-Backs have made two postseason berths in their nine seasons. They won 93 games and were bounced in the Division Series in 2017. The ’23 NL championship season is their only other playoff berth during that stretch. The D-Backs have a .490 regular season win percentage under Lovullo.
.500 team this year. If they sign Grisham or Bellinger, they are almost guaranteed to be a wild card team at the minimum next year. If they sign both of them, they are almost guaranteed to have a deep playoff run at the minimum. Signing those 2 should be their number 1 priority at nearly any cost- they should be as much of blank checks/Brinks Trucks situations as there have ever been in MLB history. They should give them whatever perks they want (multiple box suites for life, private hotel suites with private security protected from the rest of the team for life, etc) so that they don’t make the same misstep the Yankees made with Juan.
I think you made the same comment in regards to the Rangers, which is fine. I doubt the Yankees will let Bellinger go elsewhere, and I see the Mets signing Grisham. But at any rate, both dudes will be in high demand and a fit for many teams.
Same comment made regarding the Rangers and Pirates.
Teams need to be very wary of the one season power display from Trent Grisham. This is still a player not that far removed from back-to-back-to-back seasons batting under .200…
Ask the Mets about guaranteed playoff spots based on free agent signings…. I think you’re gonna need a lot more than that for a guaranteed spot lol
That’s what all said about signing Soto
Signing a generational talent didn’t do much did it ?
I believe the Dbacks were #1 in runs scored in ’24 and #4 this year. The offense may take a step back with Lawler, Alexander, Smith, Tawa, Waldschmidt and McCann playing larger roles over 162 games in ’26, but this off-season is all about pitching, pitching and more pitching.
I didn’t think Lovullo was ever much at risk of losing his job. The pitching staff was decimated with injuries and the Martel issues seemed blown out of proportion. The team certainly didn’t give up even after the trade deadline selloff.
Glad to have Torey back. He seems to communicate well and gets 100% from his players. Torey and his staff work with and develop young players mentally and physically – Perdomo, Carroll, Moreno, Thomas, McCarthy, Alexander, Lawler, Tawa, etc. I agree with most of his pitching decisions. When I dont, I usually find a pitcher was unavailable due to overuse, injury or illness. Welcome back, Torey.
Whoever signed montgomery should have his brain examined for damage
Yeah brain damage.
Owner Ken Kendrick pushed to sign Monty. I think he’s leaving the baseball decisions to Hazen now.
It’s time for a change. Lovullo goes on and on and on about how they are “grinding” and how he loves them all. He wants to be their buddy and not their boss. This is a business and he makes lots of poor baseball decisions which makes it worse. Get a real pitching coach while you are at it. This was a tough year for injuries but the team needs to man up and find a leader, not just another guy who wants to hold their hands. Get an outfielder with an arm while you are at it and get rid of a couple of the little outfielders with weak arms. And why in the world did they give a big contact to Justin Martinez??? He isn’t proven and so while he throws hard. If he isn’t effective it doesn’t matter.
Lovullo has a really big heart and he cares for all his guys but sometimes that can get in the way of holding guys accountable because you’re always in “Dad” mode. The Mariners saw that with their last manager Scott Servais and had to make a change finally. I personally don’t think it’s that big of a deal and Torey seems to keep a harmonious clubhouse.